TV Spinoffs & Revivals: Are Screenwriters Running Out of Ideas?

TV networks such as The CW and FOX have picked up both revival shows and spinoff shows for the summer and fall 2014 schedules.

Are the networks being resourceful with hits shows they’ve already accomplished and established, or are they becoming lazy and/or running out of ideas?

Creating a new television shows requires finding a new target market and marketing the new concept to capture the audience’s attention, not to mention having writers come up with concepts that haven’t already been tackled a thousand times within the industry.

Then again, why try to fix something that isn’t broken? If something is working, maybe it’s best to continue with it and follow that line of success.

The CW Network considered two spinoffs for their 2014 renewals: Supernatural: Bloodlines and The Flash, a spinoff from their hit show, Arrow. While Supernatural: Bloodlines was not picked up for the 2014 season, The Flash has officially been ordered for production. Trailers have been released for The Flash, which is set to be filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia along with most of the network’s other shows. The Flash focuses on a newer character within the show, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), also known as The Flash, hence the title of the show. The CW is still hoping to do a Supernatural spinoff in the future.

As for revivals, FOX’s hit show 24 came back for its second debut with 24: Live Another Day on May 5, 2014. Three episodes in, the ratings for the show have been great with an average of about 7.5 million viewers per night. This begs the question: what other cancelled phenomenons could networks bring back?

Do you think that the writers and producers are simply running out of ideas, or do you think they are just trying to go with what’s already working? Are there any cancelled television series that you would like to see come back? Let us know!

24: Live Another Day airs Monday at 9.8c on FOX.

The Flash does not yet have an official premiere date, but it is set to be released sometime in the fall.

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